The Indian women’s team suffered a defeat to China in the final group tie, ending their campaign in the group stage of the 2026 Uber Cup in Horsens, Denmark, on Monday.
In a must-win encounter against the 16-time champions, India could not offer much resistance and lost all five matches of the tie, finishing third in the group.
In the first match, the experienced PV Sindhu put up a good fight against the world no.2 Wang Zhi Yi but fell just short in the closely contested third game, 16-21, 21-19, 19-21.
The two-time Olympic medalist was leading 18-15 in the last game, but then Wang made a comeback and snatched the game 21-19 to give China a 1-0 lead.
After that, the young Indian doubles pair of Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra lost 11-21, 8-21 to Liu Sheng Siu and Tan Ning in the first doubles match.
Following that, the Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei survived a first-game scare against young Indian shuttler Isharani Baruah to win the match in straight games, 22-20, 21-13.
In the last two matches, the doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Kavipriya Selvam, as well as women’s singles player Devika Sihag, suffered three-game defeats.
This, combined with their earlier defeat to Denmark, led to India’s group stage exit for the first time in eight years, since the 2018 Uber Cup.
On the other hand, the Indian men’s team confirmed the spot in the quarterfinals with their second consecutive group win against Australia earlier in the day.
